Chasing Lincoln Across Upstate New York

Grace and Abe statue, Westfield, NYAbraham Lincoln traveled through upstate New York in early 1861 on his way to Washington, DC for his inauguration, stopping in Westfield, Buffalo, Albany, Peekskill, and New York City. Twelve years before, in 1848, he stopped in Buffalo and saw Niagara Falls on his way home between sessions of congress after he toured around eastern Massachusetts giving speeches in support of Zachary Taylor as the Whig nominee for president [Spoiler: Taylor won] In late April of this year, traveled much the same route in northern New York on my way to the Lincoln Forum spring conference at Hildene in Manchester, Vermont.

My first stop was Westfield, where Lincoln first met Grace Bedell, the young girl who had earlier written to tell him he would get more votes if he grew a beard. Granted, he didn’t start growing it until after the election, but he had it when he stopped in Westfield on his inaugural train journey. When he arrived in Westfield for a brief refueling stop, he called out to see if she was present. She was, and they shared a big hug to a crowd of cheers. Today, a small park features life-sized bronze sculptures of Lincoln and Bedell along with tributes to soldiers who fought in the Civil War. Right beside the park is Grace & Abes, a brewpub where you can choose from a selection of “Abe’s Ales” or all seven deadly sins from “7 Sins Brewery” (and no, there is no beer named after Grace Bedell since she had not yet turned 12 years old at the time).

From there I was on to Buffalo, where among other attractions (and a side trip to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls), I checked out two statues of Lincoln. “The Boy Lincoln” by sculptor Bryant Baker depicts a young Lincoln seated on a log and holding a book. The other, simply titled “Lincoln,” was sculpted by Charles Henry Neihaus and depicts a sitting President Lincoln. It is located in front of the South side of the Buffalo History Museum. One trivia note – Niehaus at one time had eight statues of famous men in Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol, a record. Four have them have since been replaced, but the four that remain are still more than any other sculptor in the Hall.

In Rochester, I checked in on several sites related to Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony. There are fourteen statues of Douglass in and around Rochester, including one of he and Anthony having tea. I visited the cemetery where both of them are buried. One of the Douglass statues has him and Lincoln standing full height grasping hands in a firm handshake between equals.

After checking out the Finger Lakes and Seneca Falls (where women began their struggle to get the vote), it was on to Auburn, the home of Lincoln’s Secretary of State, William H. Seward. Touring the home was fascinating, as was the grand bust of Lincoln in the library, joined by a similar one of Seward. Auburn is also the adopted home of Harriet Tubman, so I checked out yet another cemetery for the tombs of Seward and Tubman.

 

After a quick stop in Syracuse to see two more Lincoln statues, it was on to Manchester, Vermont, where I attended a weekend Lincoln Forum conference at Hildene, Robert Lincoln’s summer home. I had been there before, but this was a great opportunity to do some fact checking for the book I’m writing on Lincoln’s two New England tours, plus see about 150 other Lincoln researchers.

I’m currently in the final stages of writing the book that will be released in February 2026, so stay tuned for more information on that in the coming months.

[Photo credits: All taken by David J. Kent, April 2025]

Fire of Genius

Coming in February 2026: Unable to Escape This Toil

Available now – Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

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David J. Kent is Immediate Past President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Abraham Lincoln Meets with Frederick Douglass

Lincoln Douglass DebateOn August 10, 1863, Abraham Lincoln met with Frederick Douglass in the White House. Douglass had arrived unannounced, accompanied by Kansas Senator Samuel Pomeroy. They found the waiting room filled with people seeking an audience with the president, so Douglass, dressed in a dark suit on this sweltering August morning, assumed he would have a long wait. Instead, Lincoln’s secretary John Hay came quickly out to greet him and usher him into the inner sanctum.

Douglass described the meeting in his memoir:

“I entered [the room] with a moderate estimate of my own consequence, and yet there I was to talk with, and even to advise, the head man of a great nation. Happily for me, there was no vine pomp and ceremony about him. I never was so quickly or more completely put at ease in the presence of a great man, than in that of Abraham Lincoln….The room bore the marks of business, and the persons in it, the president included, appeared to be much overworked and tired.”

After describing the “long lines of care” already “deeply written on Mr. Lincoln’s brow,” Douglass writes that:

“As I approached and was introduced to him, he rose and extended his hand, and bade me welcome. I at once felt myself in the presence of an honest man – one whom I could love, honor, and trust without reserve or doubt.”

Douglass then told him of the object of his visit, which was to assist in the raising of African American troops for the war effort, an option now available after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863. Douglass reported that Lincoln “listened with patience and silence to all that I had to say.” He asked pertinent questions and answered Douglass’s complaints with respect and honesty.

John Hay notes the meeting in his diary, adding that Douglass “intends to go south and help the recruiting among his people.” Later that day, Lincoln endorsed the idea as set forth in a letter signed by Secretary of the Interior and Senator Pomeroy indicated that Douglass is “a loyal, free, man, and is, hence, entitled to travel, unmolested. We trust he will be recognized everywhere, as a free man, and a gentleman.” The trip fell through for lack of a commission and intransigence among military leaders, but three of Douglass’s sons served in the Union army.

Douglass would visit Lincoln twice more in the White House. The final time was on the day of Lincoln’s second inaugural speech, which Douglass professed to be “a sacred effort.”

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

Juneteenth, Frederick Douglass, and Emancipation Day

A statue of Frederick Douglass was dedicated on June 19th in Emancipation Hall of the U.S. Capitol Building. It’s been a long time coming, but the date, and the location, are eminently appropriate. Juneteenth, a portmanteau of June and Nineteenth, celebrates the day that the final state of the failed Confederacy abolished slavery. So having the unveiling of the former slave turned great statesman and ardent abolitionist on Emancipation Day is as good an orchestrated roll out as could be imagined.

Frederick Douglass

Douglass is a phenom in the history of freedom from slavery, and a story that deserves its own space for the telling. For now just recall that he was the most vocal “freeman” to push for emancipation. He pressed Abraham Lincoln and others and was often frustrated at the slow pace of change. So while Lincoln rightly deserves much credit for emancipating the slaves, Douglass deserves much more credit than history has recorded.

Emancipation didn’t come easy, of course, as the deaths of between 620,000 and 750,000 men from bullets and disease so graphically reminds us. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was issued initially in September 1862 and took effect on January 1, 1863. But the immediate impact was limited. It took the North winning the war, Congress passing the 13th Amendment, and ratification by the states for slaves to finally “be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” Still, not all of the former Confederate states were happy to comply. It took a Union General, plus a couple of thousand armed troops, to effectively take over the last holdout – Texas – and declare that “all slaves are free.” That was June 19, 1865. Juneteenth.

So, as Lincoln would have paraphrased himself, it is altogether fitting and proper that a seven-foot bronze statue of Frederick Douglass be installed in the Capitol Building on Juneteenth. Emancipation Day.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!